Chiefs tackle Eric Fisher is ready to move past last week, but here’s why it matters
Chiefs left tackle Eric Fisher did not have his best football game Sunday in New Orleans. You know this. He knows this.
It’s why three times during a Zoom call with media Wednesday, Fisher concluded a reply with some Belichickian version of “on to the next one.”
“It’s a game with adversity,” he said.
Saints defensive end Trey Hendrickson gave him fits last week, and Hendrickson is a player who gives a lot of left tackles fits. He sacked Patrick Mahomes twice, bringing his season total to 12 1/2. At one point, TV cameras picked up on Mahomes having a conversation with Fisher that didn’t exactly look like he was complimenting his play.
“You know, Pat — listen, he lets you know. His is encouragement and butt chewing all at once,” Chiefs coach Andy Reid said. “Linemen are used to that. They can take it. They were wearing big-boy pants, so they can handle it.”
It was the most frustrating game of Fisher’s season — a Pro Bowl season as of this week, by the way. But it symbolizes two larger developments.
1) That it was that noticeable — that it’s even a storyline — illustrates how much more reliable Eric Fisher is in Year Eight than he was in Years One, Two, Three or Four, as he sidestepped whispers of a No. 1 overall bust. Because there was a time when a rough afternoon wasn’t all that noteworthy.
2) He decided to play Sunday, despite back discomfort prompting him to be less than his best.
Let’s take these in order. Fisher has allowed only three sacks in 2020, even after the forgettable afternoon at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome, and he gave up just two last season. If you’re a follower of Pro Football Focus grades, he’s having the best year of his career. The website grades him at 78.3 overall, 14th best among all tackles — which includes both the left and right side.
In his first six seasons, Fisher allowed an average of six sacks per year. In three of his first four, he allowed seven. He’s cut those totals in half — so much that afternoons like the one he had in New Orleans stand out to all of us.
He’s also yielded fewer hurries and pressures this season and last year than any of the first six years of his career. Again, this is after his first few seasons called into question his No. 1 overall selection, even in a talent-depleted 2013 NFL Draft class.
“It’s been a wild ride,” Fisher said. “I’m enjoying where I’m at. We’re obviously doing a lot of good things and winning a lot of football games. We’ve won a lot of games since I’ve been here.”
On to the second point. Fisher was ailing last week. Feels better now. But a back injury held him out of two practices, and his hamstring tightened up during the game, which he revealed to the training staff only after after it had concluded. Reid literally smirked when mentioning that. It’s not typical.
But the Chiefs needed him — even if that version was obviously less than 100%. They were already without starting right tackle Mitchell Schwartz and top backup Mike Remmers, those absences necessitating guard Andrew Wylie to kick out wide.
If Fisher had sat, it would have left only one offensive lineman (center Austin Reiter) playing the spot in which he opened the season.
“I don’t think anybody who’s played the entire season can say they’re 100 percent right now,” Fisher said. “It’s a long, grueling season, and everyone has things here and there that pop up.
“I take pride in being out there for the guys, being out there for myself, being out there for the team.”
Fisher has not missed a snap this year. In fact, in the last seven seasons, he’s missed only eight games, all last year after core muscle surgery. The Chiefs were 11-0 when Fisher played last season, including the playoffs. Without him? They were 4-4.
Which leaves him 24-1 over the past 16 months. Best on the team.
Even if he wasn’t his best last week.
“We talked about it in the locker room — you can look back on the season, and you’re going to have that one game that was your best game, and you’re going to have that one game that was not your best game,” Fisher said. “Everybody is going to have a game or a play or a series, and you know, I think we all just support each other and motivate each other when we see guys struggling.
“We just keep rolling, man. It’s a game that there’s a lot of adversity throughout. We never panic. We stick together and do what we’re trained to do. We’re enjoying it, having fun with it, and on to the next one, right?”